China and Japan signed an agreement yesterday on mutual
assistance and cooperation in law enforcement, information
exchange, technical cooperation and personnel training between
their customs departments.
Under the agreement, Chinese and Japanese customs authorities
are obliged to exchange information on suspected breaches of
customs laws and regulations within their respective
jurisdictions.
The agreement includes surveillance of people under suspicion of
flouting customs laws.
The agreement was signed by Sun Songpu, deputy director of
China's General Administration of Customs, and Chihiro Atsumi,
minister for economic affairs with the Japanese Embassy in
China.
The agreement will further consolidate the legal basis for
bilateral cooperation between the two countries' customs
departments, Chinese Customs said in a statement.
China and Japan are each other's third largest trading partner,
and the two countries have cooperated with each other many times on
customs cases involving drug trafficking, intellectual property
rights protection and business irregularities since 2001.
(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2006)